Mayweather Jr. and Ali fight-worn items highlight BidAMI Auctions’ current auction
BidAMI Auctions is offering up more than 150 fresh to the market memorabilia lots in the firm’s VEGAS Super Auction. Bidding is open and the auction is scheduled to close Aug. 12 at 8 p.m. Opening bids are set at less than $50 to more than $5,000, and subjects range from entertainment celebrities to sports icons.
At the top of the watch list is a stellar lot from undefeated boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. The lot includes the fight-worn trunks and terry cloth overlay robe from Mayweather’s 1997 bout against Jesus Chavez. Mayweather penned a short thank you/authentication note on sports tape and placed it on the robe. Written in black felt marker, Mayweather says: “To my friend Bob Case – This is my robe I wore when I beat Jesus Chavez. – Floyd Mayweather 1997.” The trunks also carry a note on applied sports tape, also in felt marker: “To my friend Bob Case – These are the trunks I wore when I beat Jesus Chavez. – Floyd Mayweather 1997.” The lot is accompanied by JSA authentication and a letter of provenance from original owner/recipient Bob Case. The fight ensemble from “Pretty Boy” is offered with a minimum bid of $5,000.
For fans of “The Greatest,” a pair of 1970s-era fight-worn Muhammad Ali trunks also carry a minimum bid of $5,000. The Everlast trunks are classic white satin with black trim on the waistband, and are tagged with a stitched-on Everlast label stating “Made in U.S.A. / Made Expressly For Muhammad Ali.” Also included in the lot is a letter of authenticity signed by Ali’s assistant trainer and corner man Wali Muhammad, and a letter of authenticity from Bob Case, who was friends with Muhammad Ali. In the letter, Case describes the origin of the trunks from Wali with the sourcing in 1975 and his friendship with Ali.
Falling under the out-of-the-ordinary baseball memorabilia title is a circa 1920s steering wheel marked “Babe Ruth Motor Co.,” with the likeness of Babe Ruth over a Wells Motor Car of St. Louis. As the story goes, in the 1926 World Series Babe Ruth said he would hit two home runs for a sick child named Johnny Sylvester. The second home run The Babe hit went 515 feet out of Sportsman’s Park and shattered the Wells Motor Company Picture Window. Ruth then teamed up with Wells Motor Co. for promotions and they put the Babe’s likeness on their car steering wheels. With only nine known to exist, Babe Ruth steering wheels are rare. Bidding opens at just $895.
One of the lots representing Jackie Robinson is a well-worn 1938 Pasadena College yearbook from Robinson’s second year at the school. Before being Rookie of the Year and MVP for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson was a superstar multi-sport athlete at UCLA. Before his days at UCLA, he was a sports standout at Pasadena Junior College.
Robinson appears several times in the yearbook under the sports participation teams – football, track and baseball. All four photos are signed with fountain pen signatures. Two of the signatures have inscriptions while the other two are signed simply, “Jack Robinson.” Additionally, a JSA letter of authenticity accompanies each autograph. Bidding opens at $500 on the yearbook.
With an eye toward future auctions, BidAMI Actions will be set up at The National in booths 825-827, where they will be buying and taking consignments for future sales.
To view the complete online auction catalog, visit BidAMI.com. For more information, call 888-308-9714 or email BidBuyAmi@gmail.com.
